Monday, 14 June 2010

The Psychedelic Raincoat

Pure Carnaby Street, don't you think? I'm not sure what the designer was on when s/he came up with these wavy stripes, but it was clearly powerful stuff.

I have a fairly significant stash of PUL (both solids & prints) left over from my nappying days. They were originally bought to make nappy wraps (aka nappy covers) but Laura's nappy rash precluded the use of any kind of plastic wrap. I had been wondering for a while if PUL would make a raincoat and decided, in the continuing absence of my overlocker, to give it a try.

I wouldn't say that it's the drapiest raincoat you'll ever find but by golly, you'd go far to find a brighter one! I lined it with spotty poplin, also from the stash, and you can see Laura coming from quite some way away. This, I think, is a good thing.

The pattern is Ottobre's #11 reversible coat from 01/05. It is, as you would expect, a really nice little pattern which went together beautifully. I love the retro A-line cut! It is indeed reversible, though I don't think the spotty lining will ever see the light of day.

It hasn't been tested out in the rain yet and I will update this post if it turns out to be anything less than showerproof. But if all goes well, I have enough fabric for raincoats for the next 5 years, which is a thought to keep me warm on even the dampest day.

Wow...it's fab! I was only thinking the other day about using PUL for a raincoat, thanks for beating me to it! I love how bright it is, surely an advantage for spotting wandering children at the park?!

Hi Alison! I got it from a nappy-making co-op member who was de-stashing. It was a while ago now but if you join some nappy making yahoo groups then you'll hear about de-stashes as people offload. The co-ops also occasionally run Fabrite co-ops, where you send in your pretty prints and they eventually come back laminated. It's a really lengthy process and, I gather, not cheap. Alternatively, Dots & Stripes has some gorgeous waterproof cotton in at the moment, and you can get Amy Butler laminated cottons from Fabric.com. And finally, I cut up two adult raincoats to make Laura's coat last winter and that worked really well too! (I love making coats - you get such good value out of your time!)